Pliers.



. No. 678,583. Patented July |6,.|90l.

W. A. USLEY.

' 'PLIERS.

(Application filed Jan. 29, 1900.) (llo' lodaL) HHHIM We? 5 e: hue/afar;

6178 fla 4 Wmfi MW llri'iTnn STnTns PATENT WILLARD A. OSLEY, OFiVETHERSFlELD, CONNECTICUT.

PLEERS.

SEEGSCFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,583, dated July1-6, 1931. Application filed January 29,1900. Serial No. 3,118. (Nomodel.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLARD A. OSLEY, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Vethersfield, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inPliers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of devices commonly known as pliers,and more particularly to the specific class of pliers adapted to be usedin bending, cutting, and working wire.

The object of my invention is to produce a tool of this class whichwhile it has all the advantages of those of the prior art and isprovided with gripping-jaws and cutters is also provided with a meansfor forming a union or connection between two wires by winding tliemabout each other.

To this end my'invention consists in the device as a whole, in thecombination of the parts, and in the details of such parts and theircombination, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a pair of pliersembodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of part of thejaws and appurtenant parts. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the lower jaw, thehandle being broken away. Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of amodified form of my invention. Fig. 5 is a top or plan view of thedevice shown in Fig. 4.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a pair of pincers orpliers embodying myinvention and consisting of jaws Z1 Z2, pivoted, asat c, and provided with handles d d and cutters e 6. These parts may beof any suitable and well-known construction and form no part of mypresent invention except as they are combined with it. In practice adevice of this sort, while it is applicable to many kinds of work, isespecially useful in bending, cutting, and working wire.

It is often necessary, as in working on wire as it it is commonly usedin electrical work, to splice two pieces of the wire together, and insuch cases it is very desirable to make a firm tight joint, insuring aperfect electrical contact, at the same time having a joint of suchmechanical construction as will stand the strains. The most commonmethod of connecting wires where no separate piece, as a sleeve orunion, is used is that known to those familiar with the art as theVVestern- Union connection. This connection is made by first bringingthe two wires into parallel relation with each other, then holding themtogether at a point intermediate of the overlapping ends one of the endportions is turned back at right angles to the line of the two wires,and then wound or wrapped about the other wire. The end of this otherwire is then treated in a similar manner, and as a final finish thewhole joint is poured with solder until an absolutely tight joint ismade. These joints have usually been made by gripping the outturned endof one of the wires with the gripping-jaws of the pliers, and by thenresting the side of the pliers against the wires and turning them aboutthe wires while the end of the wire between the jaws is firmly held thiswire is partially wrapped about the main wire. This gripping andtwisting operation must of course be repeated until both ends arecompletely wound down about the opposite wire. In my improved device Ihave provided means whereby. each of the end portions may be wrappedabout the opposite wire by simply revolving the pliers about the wirewithout necessitating their removal until the end has been completelywound down into place. To accomplish this result, Iprovide a transverseopeningf between the jaws h b, and in operative relation to this openingis located a twisting-block There are preferably two of these blocks g,one being located on each of the jaws b b, so that the device willoperate equally well whether turned to the right or to the left withreference to the transverse opening f. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,these twisting-blocks are located at the sides of their respective jawsand are provided with angular extensions g fitting suitablyformedmortises locatedin the jaws b b. The mortises and correspondingextensions are tapered slightly from the inner to the outer side of thejaw, as clearly shown by comparison of Figs. 2 and 3. By thisconstruction the blocks may be inserted in the mortises ICO when thejaws of the pliers are in their full open position, and the greater theforce. applied to the lower side of the blocks, as at y the tighter theblocks will be held in their mortises. These blocks are preferablyformed long enough to allow the end g to come into contact with theinner surface of the opposite jaw, thus providing a convenient form-ofstop for preventing so close a contact of the cutters e e as to soar orbreakthem. At the side of the blocks g adjacent to the transverseopening is formed a guide grove g, which serves to guide the wire andhold it in proper position dnrin g the winding operation. The side ofthe block, as well as the groove formed in it, is arranged at an angleacross the axis of the transverse opening f and is of such a length asto reach entirely across the opening from side to side. It will bereadily seen that with this construction wires of different diametersmay be wound equally well.

While the twisting-blocks shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are removable andproject from the side of the gripping-jaws, the invention is not limitedto this precise construction and contemplates the use ofa block with itsworking face grooved and arranged at an angle across the transverseopening in the pivoted members, whether the blocks be separable piecesor formed integral with the pivoted members. Itis of course immaterialalso just where the twisting-block is located so long as its workingface lies adjacent to the opening between the pivoted members.

In Figs. 4 and 5 is shown a modification of the device thus fardescribed. In this form of the device the jaws 1 2, pivoted at 3, havinging cutters 6 7 and provided with handles 4 5, are arranged as describedabove. A transverse opening is also provided between the jaws, as at 8.The twisting-blocks in this form instead of being formed by pieces setin or formed integral with the jaws consists of a recess 9, formed inthe jaw and having its working face arranged at an angle across theopening 8. In this form of the device a movable pin 10 is arranged to beprojected across themouth of the opening 11, thus confining the movementof the wire or like part which is being operated upon by the inclinedsurface 12. This pin 10 is so arranged that one end of it comes incontact with a shoulder 13 when the pliers are being closed, thusforcing it forward, where it will remain locked iintilthe jaws are againopened a suficient distance to permit it to drop back into the recess14, formed in the jaw 1. If desired, a spring may be used to positivelywithdraw the pin, as suf ficiently shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5.

The operation of the device is as follows: The pliers are placed withthe transverse opening encircling the wires to be wound. The end of oneof the wires is then bent at right angles to the axis of the transverseopening and placed in engagement with the groove in the side of thetwisting-block. revolving the handles about the wires it is obvious thatthe wire which is in contact with the surface of the block will be woundin a close spiral about the other wire.

Having described my invention, my claim is 1. In combination, in awire-working tool, comprising a pair of pivoted members includingcutting-jaws and handles, a transverse opening located between thepivoted members, and twisting-blocks removably secured to the pivotedmembers and provided with a grooved working face adapted to cooperatewith the transverse opening, said grooved working face being angularlydisposed to and extending across the axis of the transverse opening.

2. In combination, in a wire-working tool, including pivotedgripping-jaws and cutters, a transverse opening located between andformed in the jaws, twisting-blocks removably attached to thegripping-jaws and provided with a grooved working fade adapted tocooperate with the transverse opening in the jaws, said grooved workingface being arranged at an angle across the axis of the transverseopening, and handles for operating the several parts.

3. In combination, in a device of the class specified, a pairof pivotedjaws provided with handles, a transverse openinglocated between andformed in the jaws, a recess formed in operative relation to thetransverse opening and adapted to serve as a guide for the stockoperated upon, and means for positively confining the work within therecess.

WILLARD A. OSLEY.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR W. HENDRY, WILLIAM H. BARKER.

By then

